When in Rome...

My weekend in Rome was nice. There was a lot of walking but that was expected. We bought a Roma Pass, which includes 3 days of transportation (metro, buses, trolleys) and free entrance into the first two sites that you go to. After the first two sites, you get discounts on the rest you go to. It was 23 euro, which was a steal.

Our hostel was cramped with 5 girls and we had to deal with the noisy traffic down below, but it was right by the Termini train station (easy access to the metro) so that was a plus. The first day we started early and headed straight to the Vatican Museum. They had a really cool Egyptian display out that I enjoyed. We saw many statues and paintings that were beautiful. The room I most loved was painted with the story of Constantine the Great, who is considered the first Christian Roman emperor and is responsible for the rise and legality of Christianity. The walls showed his vision of a cross, the battle scenes that he was victorious in, and his making Christianity legal in Rome. The Sistine Chapel was last in the museum and just wonderful. I would’ve liked for it to have been better lit. My neck got sore from staring at the ceiling so long, but I just couldn’t take my eyes off of the art. We weren’t allowed to take pictures but I was sneaky and got a few without flash (bad quality).

We exited the museum and ate lunch outside the old city walls at a cute little pizzeria. There “promotion” or special of the day was a drink and pizza for 6 euro. Great deal! They were so kind and instead of giving us just one piece, let us sample about 5 different kinds of pizza. We had four cheese, pesto, mushroom, margherita (Italy’s version of our basic cheese pizza), and (drum roll please) salmon and zucchini. The salmon/zucchini one was surprisingly sooo good and my favorite thus far. I wish I could get it in the states.

We then worked our way to St. Peter’s piazza and basilica.Saying it is the greatest church in the world is an understatement. We were allowed to take pictures, but of course the quality of lighting and my camera don’t portray the intensity of it all. The Chapel of the Holy Sacrament is curtained off and strictly reserved for prayer, so I went in to say a few. Kneeling in that chapel had the ability to remove all doubt, sadness, and pain. I have never been more humbled by the presence of God than while in that chapel. It was a very moving and emotional experience for me. St. Peter’s tomb is directly underneath the main altar, and it was beautifully decorated. There are at least a dozen altars in the church, and each one had enormous paintings above it. It wasn’t until about halfway through the church that I realized these “enormous paintings” were actually mosaics!! Only by looking very closely can you see the outlines of the thousands of tiles (smaller than a computer key) that made up the huge works of art. After I realized this, I had to backtrack and look at all of them again because they had a whole new beauty about them. Also located in the church is Michelangelo’s Pietà, which he finished at the age of 24. The Pieta is beautiful and looks so real that I forgot it was made of stone. Jesus really appears to be dead and Mary’s features are so torn between her agony and her destiny that I wanted to reach out and comfort her.

After a long morning at Vatican City we made our way towards the Castel of Sant’Angelo and the Mausoleum of Hadrian. The castle was awesome and the view from the top was great. We ended up going to the bar on top of the castle and splurging on wine and desserts. I felt bad spending the extra money, but as Danielle put it, “We’re drinking wine on top of a castle in Rome” so of course it was a once in a lifetime ordeal. We each got a different dessert so we could all try some. I had my first cannoli, some apple pie, and some cherry cheesecake. They were all delicious and the vino bianco (white wine) was perfectly paired. Our view overlooked St. Peter’s and the snack was a nice break.

We went back to our hostel to rest and grab dinner nearby (we had doner kebabs, which are a mix between a chicken burrito and Greek gyro… quite interesting) then made our way to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain (yay!!) by night. The steps were great, covered in people drinking (everyone had their own personal bottle of preference) and it was a great people-watching experience under a full moon. I snagged a video of some Americans playing the guitar and everyone singing along, which I’ll post later. We saw the Spanish Embassy and some monuments as we made our way to the Trevi Fountain. Most people don’t know what the Trevi is, but I have been interested and highly anticipating my visit to it. I’ve heard it is best to go at night because its beauty is even more profound. The fountain of course was even bigger than I had anticipated and SO beautiful; it was probably my favorite site of the entire weekend. Definitely a great place for romance and gelato!

We made our way back to the hostel and prepared for our trip to Ancient Rome in the morning.